Has anyone driven from South Florida and back to Alaska? How long does it take and what is the condition of the roads once leaving the USA?
Christine said
11:09 AM Aug 21, 2006
Paul, Can't make it next summer, but here is a great blog by Helen and Bill who went to Alaska this summer. They didn't drive from Florida but their blog has a ton of information on the roads in Alaska and everything else. It's also a very entertaining read. Have fun planning your trip. Christine
May not quite be what you are looking for but the new s-l-o-w-l-y becoming national road conditions services can be reached by phone by dialing 511. Much like a weather radio, these services are for the area in which you dial and typically provide real-time traffic and specific road conditions. Many localities are also creating 511 related web sites with road conditions, road cameras and the like. Google on "511 the-area-you-are-interested-in" for the web versions.
Alaska is specifically http://511.alaska.gov with all sorts of cameras (so you can see the roads themselves), road limits, closures, and traffic delays – note that some of these 511 sites are government sponsored (like Alaska) and some are commercial.
Miami to Fairbanks is just shy of 5,000 miles each way. I've done the roads up thru Edmonton and they are far better (smoother, wider, less busy) than I-95!
mcw50 said
10:03 PM Aug 21, 2006
How long it takes to drive to Alaska depends on how far you like to drive in a day and how many stops you make to sight-see, etc. When we went to Alaska we crossed into Canada from Montana on April 28 and returned to the USA in Minnesota around Sept. 1....and that wasn't long enough to see and do everything we wanted to do. We hope to go back. We, too, have friends who are there right now.....their website is www.roamingamerica.com and is quite detailed about roads and places to see.
I have heard that road conditions in Alaska are not very good, meaning the big trucks throw gravel into rv windows and such. Also dents...can anyone in this forum tell us wannabe travelers that have been there how they handled this situtation?? One couple who went there came back and put theyre rv up for sale after having to fix holes in both widows of theyre class A and many dents first. I do not know the route this couple took. I read bjoyce last post of many who went and started blogs after visiting Alaska. southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
TheBobGuy said
08:11 PM Aug 30, 2007
Hi Judy! There is a current thread on Escapees under the TRAVEL heading from several RV'rs who are in Alaska right now. They have given great information on the roads, as well as lots of other things, and many of their blogs have photos of the roads. It's fun and interesting also. Similar to what the group did last year.
We plan to head to AK in May of 2009 for the summer and share the same questions you mentioned. Bill Joyce seems to have a wealth of info which we are reading also. Maybe we could get him to go back in '09 and we could do a loose caravan!! We have lots of questions, and some concerns, but we are still going! It is a dream we want to fulfill, Lord willing!
Bob & Molly
bjoyce said
02:12 PM Aug 31, 2007
My view is if you are going to worry about RV damage then Alaska is not for you because you won't enjoy the trip. We took one rock chip on our trip and it was just outside of Tok, Alaska on the way out. All our other rock chips were in the lower 48 with one exception and it was in Saskachewan. We just picked up another rock chip from a truck going the other way in Nebraska. We wonder if this motorhome has a rock magnet installed since we drove our previous motorhome 35,000 miles and no rock chips.
The majority of people who have damage drive too fast and when I say "too fast" that can be 40mph. Some places you will do 20mph. It is hard to stop a truck or car from throwing rocks at you, you don't know they are throwing until it happens. But you don't have to break trailer springs or bend your tow bar, but people do it when driving too fast on their Alaska trip. The majority of problems are in Yukon, mostly in construction zones and also in areas prone to frost heaves. These areas are where the road is built on permafrost and you can tell those areas since the trees are black spruce and the ground is full of moss. Don't be in a hurry, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife. At 70 mph you won't see the bears or moose.
If you are really worried about damaging your baby, i.e., your RV, then maybe you should store it and take a truck camper that you buy for the purpose and sell when you get back. A truck camper is probably about the best RV for Alaska and it won't cost you an arm and leg to take the ferry if you decide to do that.
We probably won't be going again until 2010 or later, it is too big a time commitment in the summer for us. We will try to go up earlier, probably crossing the border about mid-May and come back in early September.
Alaska is a special trip, you won't find the same scenery, wildlife, or long days anywhere else.
Judy said
12:01 PM Sep 1, 2007
Thanks BJoyce you have answered lots of questions that I have had. Also am looking into some of the Alaskan trip adventures that you have mentioned.... southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
SATBOYZ 1 said
10:39 AM Oct 15, 2007
We are going up to Alaska from Ontario Canada June 2008 and looking forward to it is anyone else going at this time matbe we can meet and have a coffee on the way
Luvglass said
11:04 AM Oct 15, 2007
We're going next year, tentatively plan to start in mid May. We haven't yet put together a route, since we don't know where we'll end up this winter.
Fred
jcw said
05:55 AM Mar 28, 2011
Howard, I've see a few of these posts from this person, lucygraee, and my impression is that this is a spammer. She contributes nothing to the discussion, posts to long-ago closed discussions, and just to put up a link to her 'holidays in Spain' link. Must be a spammer.
Racerguy said
11:50 PM Mar 30, 2011
These spammers just never give up!
jcw said
04:49 PM Mar 31, 2011
Yea, but it looks like Howard removed her post. Now mine doesn't make much sense. 8^{
Bill Adams said
05:23 PM Mar 31, 2011
I sent Howard a note directly and quick action on his part made the post(s) and the user go away. Rather than posting a comment, just drop Howard a line!
Racerguy said
08:36 PM Mar 31, 2011
I wonder how hard it would be to add a report button.
Bill Adams said
06:06 AM Apr 1, 2011
Racerguy wrote:
I wonder how hard it would be to add a report button.
Most other forums have this option. Maybe it's not been necessary in the past, but it would be a great option when the spammers keep coming and coming.
Paul, Can't make it next summer, but here is a great blog by Helen and Bill who went to Alaska this summer. They didn't drive from Florida but their blog has a ton of information on the roads in Alaska and everything else. It's also a very entertaining read. Have fun planning your trip. Christine
MyTripJournal.com - Our Journey The start of their visit to Alaska starts on page 7 or so.
How long it takes to drive to Alaska depends on how far you like to drive in a day and how many stops you make to sight-see, etc. When we went to Alaska we crossed into Canada from Montana on April 28 and returned to the USA in Minnesota around Sept. 1....and that wasn't long enough to see and do everything we wanted to do. We hope to go back. We, too, have friends who are there right now.....their website is www.roamingamerica.com and is quite detailed about roads and places to see.
Mary
www.geocities.com/maryw_43537
I have been following Rich and Diane Emond's Alaska trip for a while - very good information about road conditions, etc.
There are a number of other sites - "Google" RV Alaska
Have fun
-- Edited by Howie DoDat at 07:10, 2006-08-22
There were a bunch of us who went to Alaska this year and created journals, including us. Bill and Helen's journal has been mentioned here (http://goodsamclub.mytripjournal.com/sodaks ), we met them in Whitehorse, YT. Rich and Diane Emond mentioned here (http://www.roamingamerica.com/) are friends and we met up with them in Anchorage and kept track of each other. Some others from people we know are: http://www.bayernrudi.com/, http://www.mytripjournal.com/busterjr, http://www.alaskabyrv.us/wordpress/index.php, and http://frankiefurface.blogspot.com/. You will find more links here: http://www.hitchitch.com/links.html .
-- Edited by bjoyce at 20:01, 2006-09-06
I read bjoyce last post of many who went and started blogs after visiting Alaska.
southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
There is a current thread on Escapees under the TRAVEL heading from several RV'rs who are in Alaska right now. They have given great information on the roads, as well as lots of other things, and many of their blogs have photos of the roads. It's fun and interesting also. Similar to what the group did last year.
We plan to head to AK in May of 2009 for the summer and share the same questions you mentioned. Bill Joyce seems to have a wealth of info which we are reading also. Maybe we could get him to go back in '09 and we could do a loose caravan!!
We have lots of questions, and some concerns, but we are still going! It is a dream we want to fulfill, Lord willing!
Bob & Molly
The majority of people who have damage drive too fast and when I say "too fast" that can be 40mph. Some places you will do 20mph. It is hard to stop a truck or car from throwing rocks at you, you don't know they are throwing until it happens. But you don't have to break trailer springs or bend your tow bar, but people do it when driving too fast on their Alaska trip. The majority of problems are in Yukon, mostly in construction zones and also in areas prone to frost heaves. These areas are where the road is built on permafrost and you can tell those areas since the trees are black spruce and the ground is full of moss. Don't be in a hurry, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife. At 70 mph you won't see the bears or moose.
If you are really worried about damaging your baby, i.e., your RV, then maybe you should store it and take a truck camper that you buy for the purpose and sell when you get back. A truck camper is probably about the best RV for Alaska and it won't cost you an arm and leg to take the ferry if you decide to do that.
We probably won't be going again until 2010 or later, it is too big a time commitment in the summer for us. We will try to go up earlier, probably crossing the border about mid-May and come back in early September.
Alaska is a special trip, you won't find the same scenery, wildlife, or long days anywhere else.
southwestjudy & Bob & 2blackdogs
Howard, I've see a few of these posts from this person, lucygraee, and my impression is that this is a spammer. She contributes nothing to the discussion, posts to long-ago closed discussions, and just to put up a link to her 'holidays in Spain' link. Must be a spammer.
These spammers just never give up!
I wonder how hard it would be to add a report button.
Most other forums have this option. Maybe it's not been necessary in the past, but it would be a great option when the spammers keep coming and coming.